Without Reason
by Dan Q. Bailey
Summary: Everything happens for a reason, even medicine cats not being able to take a mate. But that reason is never explained in the books. So read and learn the true story behind StarClan's iron-clad rule. ON HIATUS.
1. Allegiances

**Alright, so I was thinking: How come medicine cats aren't allowed to have mates anyway? There's gotta be a reason for that. StarClan didn't just decide to be mean to the medicine cats for no reason. Something must have happened _somewhere_ along the line. So, I came up with this story. Enjoy.**

Allegiances

THUNDERCLAN

LEADER **Burningstar- **a large, heavyset she-cat with a dark, almost black, red pelt.

**Apprentice, Redpaw**

DEPUTY **Tornclaw- **a white and tabby-patched tom with all of the claws on his left paw damaged.

MEDICINE CAT **Silverblaze- **pale gray tom with yellow eyes.

**Apprentice, Mosspaw**

WARRIORS (toms and she-cats without kits)

**Sparrowfeather- **brown tabby she-cat.

**Apprentice, Boulderpaw**

**Mousetail- **small brown mousey tom.

**Apprentice, Runningpaw**

**Frostwhisker-** large white tom.

**Apprentice, Moonpaw**

**Tinyfoot-** small but sure-footed black she-cat.

**Youngwhisker- **yellow-white tom.

APPRENTICES (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

**Boulderpaw-** dark gray tom.

**Redpaw- **tabby and white calico she-cat.

**Runningpaw- **tabby and white she-cat.

**Moonpaw-** pale gray she-cat.

**Mosspaw- **diluted tortoiseshell she-cat.

QUEENS (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

**Raincloud- **pale gray she-cat.

ELDERS (former warriors and queens, now retired)

**Onetooth- **surly wire-furred brown-gray tom with only one tooth.

WINDCLAN

LEADER **Harestar- **light brown tom.

DEPUTY **Frondleaf- **darkbrown tabby she-cat.

**Apprentice, Boldpaw**

MEDICINE CAT** Sundapple- **tortie-and-white tom.

**Grayface-** white she-cat with a dark gray streak across her face.

WARRIORS **Palebranch- **pale buff-colored tom with green eyes.

**Apprentice, Rosepaw**

**Birdsong- **blue-gray she-cat.

**Apprentice, Tawnypaw**

**Cloudface- **white tom with a dingy-gray tinge.

**Apprentice, Petalpaw**

**Hailstorm- **black tom with faint tabby stripes.

**Apprentice, Stormpaw**

**Longfur- **pale buff-colored tabby she-cat.

**Apprentice, Galepaw**

**Darkwind- **dark black tom.

APPRENTICES **Rosepaw- **bright yellow she-cat.

**Stormpaw- **pale gray tom with long fur.

**Tawnypaw- **calico tom.

**Galepaw- **dark gray tom.

**Petalpaw- **white she-cat.

**Boldpaw- **yellow tabby tom.

QUEENS **Raggedtail- **medium gray tabby she-cat with long fur.

**Blackwing- **black and gray splotched she-cat.

ELDERS **No-tail-** prickly old black she-cat with no tail.

RIVERCLAN

LEADER **Waterstar- **black-and-white tom.

**Apprentice, Tidepaw**

DEPUTY **Splashpelt-** orange tabby she-cat.

MEDICINE CAT **Goldenbird- **fawn-and-gold colored tabby she-cat.

**Apprentice, Yarrowpaw**

WARRIORS** Icefoot- **pale gray-white she-cat.

**Cressy-** buff-and-fawn colored she-cat, former loner.

**Apprentice, Mistpaw**

**Skin-nose- **dark gray-and-white tabby tom with fur missing above his nose.

**Brookfur- **muddy brown tabby she-cat.

**Apprentice, Lichenpaw**

**Blackstream- **large black tom.

**Apprentice, Quickpaw**

**Jumptail-** brown and white tabby tom.

APPRENTICES** Tidepaw- **medium gray tom.

**Mistpaw- **black-and-white she-cat.

**Yarrowpaw- **tortoiseshell she-cat.

**Lichenpaw- **gray she-cat.

**Quickpaw- **silver tom with blurred black spots.

QUEENS** Tallflower- **gray-brown she-cat.

**Spottedpelt- **brown and black splotched she-cat.

ELDERS** Mackrelstripe- **mackrel tabby she-cat.

SHADOWCLAN

LEADER **Thornstar- **brown tabby tom.

DEPUTY **Whiteheart- **gray tabby with white chest and paws.

**Apprentice, Graypaw**

MEDICINE CAT **Tearcloud- **milky-white she-cat.

**Apprentice, Smallpaw**

WARRIORS **Palethroat- **pale buff-colored she-cat with a pale scar across her throat.

**Apprentice, Snakepaw**

**Poppybranch- **orange tabby she-cat with a peppered black tail. Vicious temper.

**Stormcloud- **dark gray tom.

**Sleepingpoppy- **gray and white she-cat.

**Apprentice, Oakpaw**

**Rodtail-** black tom.

APPRENTICES

**Oakpaw- **brown and white tabby tom.

**Graypaw- **gray she-cat.

**Snakepaw- **thin black tom.

**Smallpaw-** gray-and-white tom.

QUEENS **Elmheart- **yellow tabby she-cat with dark stripes.

**Wrenfeather- **pretty blue-gray she-cat.

ELDERS** Sunstripe- **yellow tabby tom, oldest cat in ShadowClan.

**Thorntail-** prickly dark gray she-cat.


	2. Chapter 1: Herb Search

Chapter One

Mosspaw walked up to the fresh-kill pile in the ThunderClan camp. It was near sunhigh, and this first break the pretty dilute tortoiseshell had had all day. First, her mentor, Silverblaze, had made her run through the list of herbs he had taught her and all their uses, then Mousetail had come in with a thorn in his paw, and she had had to tend to that, and when she was done, Silverblaze had sent her out to gather more cobwebs.

Stretching her limbs and opening her jaws wide in a huge yawn, she perused the pile until she found what she was looking for, two plump mice. One for her, and one for Silverblaze. Taking them up in her teeth by their tails, she headed back to the medicine cat's den.

She was halfway there when someone bumped into her, knocking her to the ground and sending the two mice flying. Grunting, Mosspaw looked up to see who her attacker was. Looking a bit darker because the sun was behind him, Youngwhisker stood looking down at her, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Sorry, Mosspaw," he mewed weakly, dipping his head to her in apology and then moving over, allowing her room to sit up. "It was an accident." He was staring at his paws, making patterns in the dirt as he said this. Mosspaw narrowed her eyes in mock anger and meowed,

"Well, I hope it doesn't happen again. What'll become of ThunderClan if their warriors keep having accidents?" Shaking her pelt to rid herself of any clinging dust particles, she glanced over at Youngwhisker and saw how ashamed he looked. Feeling that maybe she was a bit too harsh on him, she padded over and pressed her muzzle to his flank in a supportive way. "Hey, I didn't mean it," she meowed, "You can brighten up now."

She was pretty surprised when he actually did. A smile spreading across his face, he bounced to his feet and asked, "Do you want me and Tinyfoot to help you collect herbs after you've finished that mouse? Least I can do after knocking you over, and I don't think Tinyfoot'll mind too much. She always says that if she hadn't had such a flair for fighting, her paws would have led her into the medicine cat's den."

Mosspaw rolled her green eyes in an amused kind of way, smiling as she did so. Youngwhisker was around her age, and although he and his sister Tinyfoot had already been made into fully-fledged warriors, he still acted like a kit. Bouncy, full of energy, and wet behind the ears! "Sure, if you're positive that Tinyfoot won't mind. Now, if you'll excuse me, Silverblaze gets cranky if he doesn't get his mouse on time. Honestly! I swear I don't know what Sparrowfeather sees in him!"

Nodding goodbye to Youngwhisker, she gathered up her fallen mice, shook them vigorously to shake the dust off of them, and then continued on her way. Her whiskers twitched in amusement as she thought of the young warrior. It was kind of surprising how well his name fit him.

Both Youngwhisker and Tinyfoot had been born at the end of a harsh leaf-bare, and while she had been tiny, he was the youngest of Raincloud's litter to actually survive. Silverblaze had told her multiple times that it was a miracle from StarClan that either of them survived at all. It was usually the larger, older kits who survived such conditions, and the whole Clan had been expecting them both to drop dead at any second.

The whole story often made Mosspaw wonder if it had been the conditions he was born into that had made Youngwhisker act so young and naive all the time. But, of course, everytime she thought that, she would be reminded of how normal Tinyfoot had turned out. Mosspaw herself had been born only a season later, in new-leaf, along with her brother and sister, Moonpaw and Boulderpaw. The five of them had always gotten along well as kits, but after Youngwhisker and Tinyfoot had become apprentices, they had all drifted apart and gone their seperate ways.

Mosspaw smiled. Despite being annoyed at Youngwhisker for bumping into her, she had to admit, she would enjoy going out with both him and his sister again. A reminder of the good old days!

"What kept you so long?" meowed Silverblaze gruffly as Mosspaw entered the den, dropping his mouse at his paws. "You only left to get two mice. You've been gone so long, I could swear the sun's nearly set."

Mosspaw rolled her eyes when her back was turned to him, depositing her own meal a little nearer the entrance. "I bumped into Youngwhisker," she meowed, somehow managing to keep all the exasperation she was feeling out of her voice, "or, rather, he bumped into me. He kept me talking for a while, and promised that both he and Tinyfoot would help me gather herbs after I was done eating."

"Humph! Young cats now-a-days, especially that Youngwhisker. I'm just glad me and Sparrowfeather agreed that apprentices were enough of a pawful without having to raise kits too. Can you imagine? Running around like moon-crazed bats, getting under foot and ruining my stock of herbs all the time? It's bad enough that other people's kits do that, without having to take it from any of my own." He quieted down as he settled down to the business of eating his mouse, and Mosspaw gave a sigh of relief. She could swear the old cat was going senile sometimes.

Finishing off her own mouse in a few short bites, she meowed a quick goodbye to Silverblaze (which he didn't aknowledge) and then hurried out of the den and towards the warriors' den, where she could see Youngwhisker and Tinyfoot. The two were sharing tongues, but stopped when they saw Mosspaw approaching. Getting up and leaning her body forward into a luxorious stretch, Tinyfoot lifted her tail and waved a greeting to her friend.

"Hi, Mosspaw! Youngwhisker told me all about how I was going to spend the rest of my day hunting for herbs," she shot a narrow-eyed glance at Youngwhisker, who looked back guiltily. "So, whatever you need my help in finding, I'm your cat."

"Thanks, Tinyfoot," mewed Mosspaw, dipping her head in respect to the older warrior. The small black she-cat just waved it off, saying,

"No problem. Besides, it's that clumbsy furball over there who should be thanking me. He's lucky I didn't rip his fur off." At these words, Youngwhisker looked even more nervous, but Mosspaw couldn't help but laugh. She knew Tinyfoot and Youngwhisker well enough to recognize the joking between them, but even so, she also knew that if Youngwhisker hadn't been her only sibling, she probably would have carried out her threat.

"So, where do you want us to start looking?" piped up Youngwhisker, eager to change the subject.

"Oh, well," fumbled Mosspaw. She hadn't given what they were going to look for exactly much thought, as she had been too excited about spending time with her best friends since kithood.

"Tell, you what," interupted Tinyfoot, "why don't we just have a look around and pick up anything we might need? It'll be more fun that way." Both Youngwhisker and Mosspaw nodded, and Tinyfoot led them out of the bramble entrance tunnel, up the ravine, and into the forest.

They hadn't gone far when Mosspaw meowed, "Come over here! There's some coltsfoot growing here. We may as well take a batch, just don't swallow any of the juice, it'll make you feel dizzy." Youngwhisker came forward and, after Mosspaw had shown him how to cut the stems so that the most important parts of the plant remained intact, both she and Tinyfoot left him to gather a bunch while they went off to find other herbs.

Once Youngwhisker was out of earshot, Tinyfoot turned to Mosspaw and mewed, "Do you think it was wise to leave him to do that on his own? He might decide to drink some of that juice on purpose, just to spite you."

Mosspaw shrugged. "Well if he does, let him. He'll make his own mistakes anyway, and there's nothing either of us can do to stop that. Tinyfoot nodded, and the two continued on for some time in a companionable silence.

Not to long afterward, Tinyfoot stopped and, pointing into a thick clump of vegetation, nudged Mosspaw with her nose. "Hey, isn't that some borage over there?" she asked.

Immediately interested, Mosspaw padded over and nosed over some of the plants. "Yeah," she replied, "good eye, Tinyfoot. Silverblaze will be pleased when he sees this. We've been running low on borage for I don't know how long. Would mind taking some of it back for me? I still need to find some chervil. Silverblaze thinks that relations with RiverClan are starting t get a bit rocky, and if anything happens, he'll apprecitate us being prepared." She was just about to head off when she heard Tinyfoot calling her back.

"Mosspaw! Wait! Doesn't chervil grow close to the RiverClan border in our territory?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Well, if Silverblaze thinks that there may be trouble with RiverClan, than shouldn't you have a warrior accompany you there?"

Mosspaw's tail began to twitch in slight annoyance. Just because she wasn't a warrior didn't mean that she couldn't look after herself if need be. She knew that Tinyfoot spoke only out of concern for her, but it didn't make her feel any less nettled. "I'll be fine," she meowed. When it looked as if Tinyfoot were about to say something else, she quickly added, "Just because I'm a medicine cat doesn't mean that I don't know how to fight. Besides, I'm almost as old as you are, anyway. Tell Silverblaze I'll be back before sunset!" Not waiting for a reply, she waved her tail in goodbye and walked off toward RiverClan territory, leaving her friend behind her to pick the borage.

---

Mosspaw was alerted of the river's presence before she ever saw it by the loud sound of the rushing water. Ducking out from underneath the cover of the undergrowth, the dilute tortie blinked her pale green eyes in the harsh light supplied by the sun bouncing not only off of the rippling water, but also off of the smooth surfaces of sunning rocks.

Pausing, she stretched out and allowed the heat of the sun to warm her after having been shaded by the coolness of the forest beneath the trees. It felt good to feel some sunshine. Why, if Silverblaze wasn't such a grouch, she would probably have spent some time on Sunningrocks. As it was, she had to be cursed with her mentor, bad temper and all. _It's a wonder I even get any sleep,_ she thought bitterly to herself as she stepped closer to the river's edge in search of chervil.

She had to be really careful now, because at this part of the river the bank was dry and crumbling. Too much weight or a wrong move could send her and a good deal of rock-hard soil tumbling down into the river and from there into the gorge. Shaking her head of all other thoughts, she concentrated solely on putting one paw carefully in front of the other, fully aware of what danger awaited her if she didn't.

She didn't really know why most of the chervil to be found in ThunderClan territory had to grow right in this particular spot along the entire legnth of the river. She supposed they were just stubborn to do things the hard way, much like her mentor! This last thought made her purr and brought a smile to her face. It was weird how the personalities of both plants and cats could be so alike. She had never noticed it before, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make.

Pondering over these new ideas, she hardly noticed when she almost found herself crossing the RiverClan border. Pulling her paw back sharply, she shuddered at what she had almost done. She had forgotten how sharply RiverClan territory veered into her own. She coiuld only say she was thankful that her nose had been paying attention while her mind had been busy.

Laughing silently at her own near foolishness, she was startled by a voice calling out to her from across the river.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing so close to RiverClan territory?"

Glancing over, Mosspaw saw a medium gray apprentice, around half her height, glaring at her with sky-blue eyes from across the river. "I wasn't doing anything, for your information!" she called back hotly. "Besides, what business is it of yours whether I'm close to your territory or not? I'm still inside my border, aren't I?"

Turning to face deeper into her own territory, she was just about to go when the voice of the RiverClan cat stopped her. "Oh no you don't! You can't just trespass on other cats' borders and get away with it! Especially not a RiverClan one!" She was just about to dismiss all of his big talk for hot-headed bravado when she heard a splash behind her. Whirling around, she gaped in horror she saw his shape, fur wettened to near black, struggling to fight the current and swim straight across.

Ordinarily, she wouldn't have been quite as worried, but the current was particularly strong today, and one look at him, almost to the deepest part of the river and barely able to keep his head above the surface, told her that he probably wasn't going to make it. Standing in shock, she watched in horror as a rather large wave rose up and engulfed him.


	3. Chapter 2: Into the River Below

Chapter Two

When the RiverClan cat had first been engulfed by the wave, Mosspaw had been too shocked to do much of anything short of sit and stare, wide-eyed. However, when a gray paw, now drenched black by the water, emerged from above the surface and waved around pitifully for a few seconds before disappearing beneath again in another wave, she jerked herself into action.

Rushing forward, without any concern for her own personal safety, she leaped down into the river, allowing the current to pull her forward until she was close enough to grab hold of the other cat. With his scruff held tightly between her teeth, she struggled to remain afloat. It was only then when she saw how utterly stupid this entire plan had been.

Now she not only had to keep her own head above water, but also the head of the now unconsious apprentice she was holding onto. And as if that was exhausting enough, she also had to try to get to shore. The thought hadn't crossed her mind before, but now it did, and it stuck there like a bothersome tick. How in the name of StarClan was she supposed to get to shore?

It wasn't as if she was a RiverClan cat. She hadn't the first clue how to swim, and at the rate her energy was being drained from her trying to fight the current, she was sure she wouldn't be up to it, either. As far as rescuing the apprentice from drowning, this was her limit._ This was such a stupid idea!_ she thought bitterly to herself, her furiously churning paws beginning to slow down, _I can't believe I actually did this. And for a RiverClan cat, too!_

Her limbs were beginning to tire, and her hold on the apprentice's scruff was slipping. Pausing momentarily to readjust her grip, she felt both of them almost get swept underneath a solid wall of rushing water. As it was, she managed to keep both of their heads above water, but some of it still got into her mouth. However, she knew better than to try and cough it back up. Determined, she swallowed it and began casting around wildly for anything she could use to help her.

It was then that she saw another cat standing on the bank, having just emerged from some reeds. There was what looked like a whole patrol with her, and Mosspaw let out a silent, and muffled, sigh of relief. Help at last! She didn't care what side of the border they were on, as long as they could help her.

The bright orange tabby she-cat who looked as if she were leading the patrol stepped forward closer to the river, her gaze set intently upon the two struggling cats stranded in the rushing water. Looking at her, eyes beginning to gloss over with exhaustion, Mosspaw felt that she should recognize this cat, but no recollection came.

There was a large black tom standing on the bank. He said something to the she-cat, and she shouted back something that Mosspaw couldn't quite make out. It was as if they were far away, farther than they actually were. The tom bacame silent, and the she-cat leaped into the river, swimming strongly across to where Mosspaw and the apprentice were waiting.

With alarm, Mosspaw began to notice that her vision was becoming hazy, blurring everything together. She, however, could do nothing about it. Black spots began to appear at the edge of her vision, multiplying furiously and crowding closer and closer together, meeting in the middle of her view. The last thing she saw before completely blacking out was the face of the orange she-cat, saying something to her before grabbing her scruff in her teeth.

---

When Mosspaw came to, she had absolutely no idea where she was. At first, it didn't matter, and she closed her eyes again, grateful for the rest that was being granted her. Then her memories caught up with her. Jerking up, she let out a short yowl of surprise when she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

"Oh, you're awake."

The voice, soft and gentle, reminded Mosspaw of sunlight, and suddenly an image appeared in her mind of a light fawn-and-gold-colored tabby she-cat. Another moment and a name came to mind to match the image. "Goldenbird!" she exclaimed, sure that she had the cat's name right. "But, what are you doing here? Unless, I'm in RiverClan's camp?"

"That's right," purred RiverClan's medicine cat, coming into Mosspaw's view. Behind her stumbled a small tortoiseshell she-cat, so small that at first Mosspaw thought she was a kit. "Meet my apprentice, Yarrowpaw," meowed Goldenbird, shoving the young cat forward. "She's going to have her official ceremony at the next half-moon." There was pride in Goldenbird's mew, and Mosspaw felt that she had every right to be.

Yarrowpaw, looking a little nervous, stumbled towards Mosspaw and, bowing her head to the larger cat, mewed, "Nice to meet you, I'm Yarrowpaw."

Mosspaw, in an attempt to ease some of Yarrowpaw's nervousness, blinked at her in a friendly matter and meowed back, "I'm Mosspaw."

Looking a little more at ease at this exchange of names, Yarrowpaw meowed a little more boldly, "You're a ThunderClan cat, aren't you?" Mosspaw nodded, surprised that any of her distinctive ThunderClan scent still remained on her after spending so much time in the river. "Then how do you and Goldenbird know each other?"

"Mosspaw's a fellow medicine cat apprentice," answered Goldenbird. "Now please, stop bothering our guest. Though while she's up, I suppose I could get her to take some of her medicine. Want to help, Yarrowpaw?" Goldenpaw was smiling sweetly, but something about it brought shivers down Mosspaw's spine, though she was sure the RiverClan cat wouldn't hurt her, she now had her doubts. "Will you go fetch the necessary herbs?"

Now the smile spread to Yarrowpaw, and she scampered off to a small crevice at the back of the den, scampering back almost immediately with a small pile of leaves clamped between her jaws. "Excellant," meowed Goldenbird sinisterly, "Now, Yarrowpaw, hold down our patient while I administer, she may not find this very enjoyable."

Obediantly, Yarrowpaw leaped with some difficulty into the nest Mosspaw was lying in and placed one small orange-and-black paw on both her neck and stomach, holdng her down. Mosspaw opened her mouth as Goldenbird placed the strange-smelling herbs in it, and as soon as the juice hit her taste buds she attempted to spit it right back out again.

Apparently forseeing this, Goldenbird immediately began stroking her throat with her paw, making her involuntarily swallow. As she felt the bitter-tasting lump descend down her throat, Goldenbird signaled to Yarrowpaw and her apprentice let go, stumbling down until she was once again sitting in front of Mosspaw.

"I'm going to go check on Tidepaw, I don't think he's woken up yet. Yarrowpaw, do you want to keep Mosspaw company?"

"Sure!" exclaimed the youngster, ears perking up at the suggestion. As Goldenbird disappeared from view to what Mosspaw assumed was another part of her den, Mosspaw asked, "Who's Tidepaw?"

Yarrowpaw looked at her as if she had a mouse chewing her tail. "You don't know who Tidepaw is?" she asked, disbelief sinking into every inclination of her question. When Mosspaw shook her head no, she immediately began her answer. "Tidepaw's the cat you saved from the river. He's Waterstar's apprentice, and usually a better swimmer, but I suppose the current was pretty strong today," here she gave the most light-hearted giggle Mosspaw had ever heard, then she leaned forward in a conspiratorial way and whispered, "And you know what?"

"What?" asked Mosspaw leaning in closer to hear better.

"One day, me and him are gonna be mates." She smiled, and suddenly her eyes got all dreamy, as if she were half-asleep, and she began to purr.

Mosspaw looked at her as if she had grown an extra tail, trying to remember what this Tidepaw had been like before both he and she had nearly drowned. It took a while, but then an image of a small medium dark gray tom yelling at her from across the river came to mind. Her look intensified. How could anyone, especially someone as nice as Yarrowpaw, actuallly like that stupid furball. But of course, Yarrowpaw probably knew him better than Mosspaw did.

Shaking her head, the ThunderClan cat tried to think of another topic of conversation she could pursue. Casting about for something, she suddenly remembered that Yarrowpaw had seemed a little unsteady on one of her paws. Hoping she wouldn't sound too intrusive, she asked, "Hey, Yarrowpaw, I noticed you limping earlier. What happened?"

Yarrowpaw's eyes snapped open and she looked at Mosspaw. "It's a long story," she meowed eventually. "Are you sure you wanna hear it?" Mosspaw nodded, eager to hear the story. Yarrowpaw considered for a moment, and then began.

**Okay, so, good chapter, good chapter. Not much happened, but still, I'm going to take my time on this one. Or at least I'm planning to anyway. I hope you all enjoyed meeting Goldenbird and her apprentice Yarrowpaw. Oh, and as I side note, I kind of just invented most of that stuff I put about Yarrowpaw on the spot. Pretty neat for a quick improvision, eh? I wanted her to seem at least somewhat intresting, and I hope I succeeded. Next chapter, Yarrowpaw's story about why she limps slightly. **


	4. Chapter 3: Yarrowpaw

**Okay, so here's Chapter three of _Without Reason._ I'm sorry I didn't get it up sooner, but I was busy, and I kind of got writer's block while I was working on this, so, yeah. Stuff happened. But it's up now, and i can't wait to get started on Chapter Four! **

**Oh, and before you mention it, yes, I know Yarrowpaw refers to her siblings with the ending of 'paw', but that's just because it would be incorrect of her now to call them by their kit names when they're now apprentices. So, yeah, don't nobody bring that up! **

Chapter Three: Yarrowpaw's Story

"It all started when I was a young kit, maybe three moons," began Yarrowpaw, taking a deep breath before beginning the plunge into the heart of her story. "I was curious, and rather disobedient, as most kits are at that age.

"My mother had told me and my siblings, Lichenpaw and Quickpaw, never to stray out of camp until we were apprentices. Well, at this time, my siblings knew that I had ambitions to become a medicine cat, and laughed at me for not wanting to be a warrior like them. I didn't like it, and so, to show them once and for all that just because I wanted to be a medicine cat didn't mean I couldn't be as brave as a warrior, I suggested a plan to sneak out of camp.

"It was the most daring plan any of us could think of at that age, and though we were all considering it, I was the first to actually bring it out into the open. They all agreed to follow me, and I led us out early in the morning, before anyone else was even awake.

"Getting out of camp was easy, and the three of us had a lot of fun exploring. Before we'd even realized it, it was sunhigh and we were beginning to get tired. We'd all decided that it was around time to turn around and go back to camp, but that's when we realized we'd been so absorbed in exploring that none of us remembered the way back to camp.

"We weren't really all that good at picking up scents at that age either. Quickpaw by far had the best nose out of the three of us, but even he couldn't precisly pick out our scents. We'd wandred around too much, and there were too many confusing scents, plus, he'd never really tried before. But that wasn't the worst of our problems.

"We didn't know it at the time, but we were being followed by a fox. Easy pickings, I guess," joked Yarrowpaw darkly. Mosspaw shuddered, but didn't dare interrupt as her new friend continued.

"We should have been tipped off by the reeds waving in the direction opposite to the way the wind was blowing, but we were kits, we didn't notice that sort of stuff. And besides, we were too busy trying to find our way home. By the time we noticed, it was too late.

"It was Lichenpaw, actually, who discovered it first. She had dropped behind because she was getting tired, and the rest of us were too scared to wait for her. It had decided that that would be the best time to strike, and it would have had her had she not screamed.

"Naturally, Quikpaw and I ran back as fast as we could and, seeing the fox, all ran back in the direction we had come from as fast as we possibly could. There were plenty of reeds and tall grasses lining the path beside us, but we were too blinded by fear to even think of hiding in them, and the fox was fast, faster than anything we had ever encountered before. It was almost upon us, its slavering jaws barely a mouse-length behind our streamed-out tails. We probably wouldn't have survived if a patrol hadn't come by just then.

"Our mother, Spottedpelt, had discovered our abscence, and raised the alarm, lucky for us. There were only two cats in this particular search party though, Mistpaw and her brother Tidepaw. Their arrival startled the fox, for a while, allowing us time to hide behind our rescuers. However, it wasn't long before the fox figured that it would provide a bigger meal if it were to eat the apprentices instead.

"It lunged straight for us, teeth and claws bared. Mistpaw urged, well, actually ordered, us out of the way, and then tried to do the same with her brother, but he wouldn't listen. Instead, he told her that if they just let the fox go, it would return at a later date to empty out our nursery, and he definately couldn't allow that to happen. He then ordered her to hide in the reeds with us and make sure none of us tried to interfere while he took care of the fox."

Mosspaw was listening, utterly captivated by Yarrowpaw's story. When she heard of Tidepaw's trying to take on a full-grown fox on his own though, she couldn't help rolling her eyes in exasperation. _Was he such a hot-headed young furball that he would risk his and other's lives on something that a full-grown warrior could have easily take care of?_

"I remember watching from between the tall stalks. The first few moments of the battle were a blinding flurry of teeth and claws. I was really scared, we all were, but Tidepaw had actually had the courage to take on the object of our fear, though he must have been more scared than all of us put together.

"I had every confidence that Tidepaw would be the winner of this fight. I don't know why I thought that. All the logical odds were against him. I suppose I thought that because he was fighting for us, for our survival, he had no choice _but_ to win. I was so focused on this idea that I was actually kind of surprised when the fox managed to kick him off of it and knock him into the reeds opposite us.

"I'd always thought up to that point that nothing could beat a righteous warrior, fighting with StarClan on their side. But as I saw that fox, large and blood-thirsty, thinking it had won, walking towards where Tidepaw lay, knocked at cold, I began to rethink this theory. No warrior could stand alone, and right now, Tidepaw needed whatever little support I could offer, and I couldn't give him that hiding in the reeds while he fought the battle alone.

"I know now that it was an utterly mouse-brained move on my part, but I did it anyway. I just couldn't take it anymore, the sitting by waiting, watching while one of my Clanmates was hurt around me and not even lifting a paw to help. Being a young kit, there wasn't really much I could've done, but I was detrimed to do something anyway.

"While Mistpaw was being kept busy trying to quiet Quickpaw and Lichenpaw, I raced out and jumped on top of the fox's hindquarters, claws unsheathed. I scratched and bit at it, and of course that was just about the dumbest thing I could have done at that point. I didn't even break the skin. All I managed to do was bring attention to myself, and that was not a good thing.

"The fox whirled on me, Tidepaw temporarily forgotten. I had accomplished my goal, but in my plan I had gotten no further than that. In a panic, I began calling out Tidepaw's name. Hoping, wishing that he would wake up and save me. I suppose I'd be lying if I said I didn't think that he would come to my rescue. Luckily for me, he _did _hear me through the mists of his unconciousness, and he_ did_ save me.

"I was so relieved when I saw his eyes flickering open, and when he got up and leapt on the fox to save me..." Yarrowpaw trailed off, her voice light and airy and her eyes lost in a dreamy fog. Mosspaw couldn't help but stick out her tongue a bit in disgust.

"But getting back to the story," Yarrowpaw snapped back to reality, much to Mosspaw's relief, "It turns out he wasn't quick enough, for just before he reached us, the fox managed to grab ahold of my paw. Thankfully, it dropped it before any serious damage could be done, but still, Goldenbird said I'd never be able to use it to it's full capacity ever again. Not that it matters much to be, I want to be a medicine cat anyway. I'll never have much use for this limb." She jerked it up in what should have been a rather painful position, but her face didn't change into a grimace.

"Anyway, we were really lucky. A patrol that had been sent looking for me and my siblings headed by the deputy herself happened upon us. It wasn't a very large patrol, and I had a feeling that if it wasn't already worn out by dealing with us, there would have been a fight. Thankfully, the fox was harried enough, and obviously decided that there were easier pickings elsewhere, for it didn't take much for the patrol to drive it off."

She stopped and shrugged. "And that's pretty much it I guess. Waterstar got very angry at Tidepaw for deciding to stay and fight instead of running off, and me and my siblings were of course berated for sneaking off in the first place. But other than that, everything turned out fine."

"Yarrowpaw!"

Yarrowpaw stood up at the sound of Goldenbird's voice, ears perked. Turning rather apologetically to Mosspaw, she meowed, "I've gotta go. Get some sleep, okay? You'll feel much better for it." Flashing a carefree smile, the little tortie ran off towards her mentor, leaving Mosspaw alone. The diluted tortie smiled back, then let a giant yawn. She hadn't realized how tired she was until that moment. Settling back down into her nest, she let out another yawn and closed her eyes, drifting gently off to sleep.

**Alright, so, yeah, that's it. Sorry I rushed a bit at the end, but I really didn't have a better way to end it, and if I hadn't done that, this chapter would have dragged on forever.**

** Oh, and to all of you who have read my other mult-chapter fic, _Twisted, _Chapter Ten's going to take a while, so don't hold your breath. See ya!**


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